Eight Stories from the ground
by numbersandstuff
Summary: Near is trapped by Matt. He is tortured nearly daily. Is it the end for Near? Will live on to success L?


**I do not own or claim to own TLC or Death Note**

**Contains only slight reference to yaoi**

I was in the kitchen fixing Matt's lunch for work when I realized that I had been running a bath for him and the water was still running. The tub was probably nearly full by now. Matt didn't let me leave the kitchen until he was gone for work. I raised my index finger.

I was not allowed to speak unless Matt acknowledged my need to talk and gave me permission. If I were to speak now, he would torture me with whatever his demented mind could come up with. Last time he had made me hold my hand to our electric stove top until the old couple in the apartment next to us complained. Bad luck for me, the only one home that day was the partially deaf old man.

Matt was watching "Say Yes to the Dress." Great. That's his favorite show. He wouldn't even take his eyes off the screen during commercials. It was a little more than a healthy obsession.

I waved my hands, trying to get his attention with no luck. He didn't have to go to work for another hour or so. I opened my mouth only to shut it again. I pondered the consequences.

Finally, I let out a whisper, letting it travel through the doorway and into the next room. "Matt, the tub."

I saw him jerk up in his seat. He swung his head to face me in the doorway. Then he did the impossible. He turned off TLC. He jumped up and nearly tackled me to the ground.

Before I knew it, I was being dragged into the bathroom by my ankles. He dropped my legs onto the cold, hard, tile floor and removed his T-shirt.

He yanked me up by the wrists and without hesitating, plopped me into the water head first. Before I could lift my head for a breath of air, he grabbed the back of my hair and shoved my face into the rough bottom of the bath tub.

I was screaming, kicking, everything I could do. My flailing limbs didn't faze him a bit, he just pushed my face harder against the bottom.

All I could see was bubbles. I was so exhausted that all I could do was scream. My vivion started to fade and I realized that I was no longer screaming. After that, all I remember is Matt's grip loosening and everything went black.

I woke up on the couch wrapped in a big fuzzy blanket. It looked like it was around noon by the sun coming in through the window. On the end table the was a note written on purple stationary paper. It said:

Near,

I want you to know that I only do those things because I love you.

Matt.

I stared at the paper a second before folding it in half and shoving it into my back pocket. I got up to clean the bathroom before Matt got home, only to find that when I walked in, the floor was dry, and everything even smelled like lemons. Matt could be sweet if he wanted to be.

I walked out of the bathroom and into the kitchen. I start up a pot of coffee. "Maybe something is wrong with ME." I thought aloud. I grabbed my mug and walked over to the table. When I sat down I noticed that Matt had left me another surprise.

I always forget that after he does something major, he leaves me another little something somewhere else. Last time, after the stove top incident, he took his lit cigarette and burned the words, "I LOVE YOU," Into my forearm. This time, as I know from my later study with our full body mirror, he had carved a large heart on my right butt cheek.

I decided that I REALLY didn't want a bath, so I turned on the faucet in the shower. I grabbed the rubbing alcohol and peroxide, not particularly excited about what came next.

When Matt came home around 7:00, he took off his tie and jacket and threw them onto the table as usual, but this time, he left his shoes on and he started to roll up his sleeves.

"How are you my darling Near?" he said a little too innocently. "Fine," I said nervously. "Did you find my present?" he asked. "Um…Yes," I replied slowly. "Did you love it?"

I watched as his small grin turned into a sickening smile. He pulled out a pocket knife from his pants pocket, still smiling. I was slowly walking backward. I didn't answer. He took a single step closer. "I said, DID YOU LOVE IT?"

I semi-jogged backwards onto the terrace. Matt walked steadily towards me with the knife at eye-level.

"L didn't love me, but OH how he loved you. Now I'm stuck following that Mello kid around!" He kept walking forward, closing the safe space between us. "Why didn't you stay? Why did you leave? You know how much I love you. How much L loves you." I just stared at him blankly.

I couldn't believe the Matt was upset because he had to work with Mello instead of me. And love? Pft. That was the reason I left in the first place. L loved me a bit too much. I couldn't work with the fear that he would find me alone in the copier room, or in my office, or even on my lunch break. Now it was Matt I was afraid of.

My back was against the cold, thin railing. I was trapped, eight stories from the ground. Matt was about a yard away when I decided that I didn't want to die like this. Even if his goal wasn't death, I was still sick of his cruel games.

I took a deep breath before toppling over the railing.

Matt thought I was dead. No one else knew I existed except L, who I found out later had died that night. I had my own plans.

"Hey Near!" called Mello from down the gall. This had become a morning routine since I had gone back to work.

"Hey Mello. Are you ready to get that Kira case out of the way today?"

**And so Near was back before you even knew he existed. Matt was set straight and sent out to be shot :P Mello, the little creeper, also dies and then Near wins. Yay. The end.**


End file.
